Moonstruck are a chocolate company based in Portland, Oregon, with several shops around the area. I chose this single origin Dominican Republic bar primarily because I wanted to compare it to the outstanding Amano Dos Rios that I tried recently. I didn’t really expect they’d be in any way similar, but I thought it would be fun to taste them side by side anyway.

Appearance-wise, there’s very little difference between the two bars. They’re a similar shade of deep, reddish-brown, have a nice gloss and a good clean snap. The flavours though, are quite different.

Where the Amano has complex spicy and flowery notes, this is a much simpler and sweeter chocolate. But one I still enjoyed in its own right.

The tasting notes say

“…orange zest and citrusy accents. Middle notes include robust red wine with dried prunes and blackberries, rounded out with a complex floral finish”

and while I certainly wouldn’t disagree with the citrussy accents, I didn’t pick up a lot in the way of floral notes, and it’s nowhere near as complex as the Amano. But given the work that went into sourcing the beans and producing the Dos Rios, that shouldn’t really be surprising.

So while this bar didn’t blow me away, it was still a very pleasant little nibble, and something I’d happily buy again.